James Farmer’s mother started asking him for decorating advice by the time he was 10 years old.

“She would ask him, ‘Where should I put the Christmas tree?’” said Maggie Yelton, Farmer’s sister. “He would pick stuff from the garden and make these beautiful arrangements and centerpieces.”

Farmer, now 30, is a thriving lifestyle expert, author and garden and interior designer. Still a resident on his family’s farm in Kathleen, Farmer travels back and forth to Atlanta often, and works with clients all over the deep South, he said, and as far as New York.

“I’ve always wanted to teach but not necessarily be in a classroom — I teach to garden clubs and ladies’ groups,” he said. “At the end of the day, no matter how big the event or party or project, I hope all clients have learned something but have also been entertained.”

Farmer majored in horticulture and art history at Auburn University.

“That’s when it really hit me,” he said. “Not everyone grew up on a farm with grandparents teaching them about everything. I thought, ‘You know what? We need to know about this stuff. It’s important.”

Growing up on a cattle farm, living off the land is second nature to Farmer.

“Farm to table is very chic but that term is not really new to the South,” he said.

One of his books, “A Time to Cook,” is a “garden to table” book with Southern-style recipes, Farmer said. “With Southerners, there’s a story with everything,” he said.

Most recently, Farmer released “Wreaths for all Season,” which he will be signing during an open house Sunday at Peachtree Battle Antiques & Interiors in Buckhead.

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